Thursday, February 21, 2013

So Brandon told me to be ready at 10 on Friday, he had something special planned for us! So I was super excited but at the same time I like to do my research and try to figure out his surprises because I don't like not knowing things! :) Anyhow so I did figure out we were going somewhere so I was really excited now! So he came home from work at 10 and told me to pack for the weekend and that we were going to Las Vegas! I was super excited! So off we went...Brandon had babysitting all lined up and everything. Jordan so kindly baby sat all day Friday and that night then my parents were coming into town on Saturday morning until Monday. I was so nice to be able to talk to each other while we drove with no distractions and no kiddos. We stayed at the beautiful Vdara which is in the new city center part on the strip. It was awesome it's a no smoking and no casino hotel so totally up our alley!! He got us a room that over looked the Bellagio fountains! Las Vegas has always been our thing we went on our hunny moon there and used to go like once a year and usually stayed at the Bellagio. So this was really special and so sweet for him to plan this for some time away with just us! So as we were walking around checking out the hotel and figuring out where we wanted to eat for dinner he pulled us into the will call ticket line for the new Cirque du Soleil show Zarkana! I was all are you serious?! So we picked up our tickets then got ready for dinner. We decided to eat at Jean Georges Steakhouse and holy cow was it unbelievable!! Seriously the best meal we have EVER eaten!! Extremely spendy but totally worth every penny! I got this yummy chicken with a side of truffle butter mac and cheese delicious and Brandon got the best steak in the world seriously cooked to perfection and he got truffle butter and bacon mashed potatoes! We loved all of it! Great way to start the trip and night! Then off the the show. I just am amazed at how talented the people are in the show it was crazy I think the coolest part of the show was the lady that juggled and the man that balanced on a ladder while having a lady balancing on him! AWESOME! Then we got to sleep in shop around Saturday afternoon. We ate lunch at a place called Housteins. Delicious sliders and shakes!! The place was really fun to eat at too! They first bring you out salt and vinegar popcorn that was really good! Then at about 3:00 Brandon was insisting on going to Treasure Island. So we headed there and yet again he surprised me with another show!! Seriously this man is amazing! So went got ready for dinner and a show for the evening. We ate dinner at Fix...and it was awesome again! I had truffle butter penne with peas and Brandon decided to go with another steak. Both totally good! I would eat that pasta anyday...anytime! Then off to our show Mystere!! It was spectacular! I think this was my favorite of the two we saw. Really incredible! My favorite part of this show was these two gymnast guys..I can't even describe how cool they were! Then on our way back to the hotel we got my favorite thing ever in Vegas....gellato! Then Sunday we decided to go back to Housteins for some more shakes and sliders then we headed home! This weekend was just perfect I love how thoughtful my sweet husband is to go out of his way and plan this whole weekend for us to have some good one on one time! It was very much needed! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

January 24th we celebrated our 9 year anniversary! I can't believe it's been 9 years but at the same time I can't think of life before we were married it seems like we have been married forever! :) I am so very grateful to be married to such a wonderful caring handsome man! I am constantly amazed at the things he does for me and the things he thinks of to help me out! He is the best father ever! I love watching him with our kiddos and seeing how much love he has for them and how much they adore him! He is the hardest worker I have ever met or seen and I am amazed at how much he does at work and his love for being challenged! This past year has been pretty great! Each year we are married seems to get better and better! We were able to go out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory then we went to the Circ de Soile movie that is out! Love spending time with my sweetie! Thanks for being the most amazing man these past 9 years! Can't wait for this next year to see what it has in store for us! :) Happy Anniversary!

Valentines Day! The kids got to wake up with a surprise of a new Valentines outfit then they were off to school! Yesterday at Parker's Mom and Me Cooking class we did a little Valentines Party too. We made scones and gave out our Valentines. I was also able to help at both of their parties which was so much fun. Brooklyn's was first..those cute little preschoolers are just too cute! They played fun games and we made love floats for their treat! They loved it! Then off to Ashlyn's party after lunch. We did similar things at her party just added a craft which that's what I got to help out with and we made valentines. When we got home I had a craft for them to do we made conversation hearts and got to write the little notes on them, the kiddos loved it! My sweetheart surprised me with some beautiful flowers!! I was surprised because we agreed to not get each other anything and then I walked in from one of the girls parties and he had secretively put them on the table while I was gone! So our family tradition for dinner on Valentines Day is fondue. So this year I made a cheesy fiesta fondue and we dipped chips and french bread into it and then an alfredo fondue and we dipper chicken and ravioli in it. Then dessert was a chocolate fondue with strawberries, brownies, bananas, and rice crispie treats..but we were all pretty stuffed from dinner to eat the dessert. Then we got our little love bugs a little something that they could open after dinner. The girls each got a friends lego set and Parker got his very own real basket ball! It was sure a fun filled Valentines day!

The girls were so excited for this dance/cheer clinic! The UVU dancers and cheerleaders put it on. So during the clinic I stayed and watched and the girls had just finished learning their dance and the cheerleaders were going to teach them so simple tumbling moves like summer salts, toe touches, and cartwheels...things I thought Brooklyn would totally get into and love since she taught herself to do a cartwheel last summer. So all of the sudden she walks over and sits down next to me and tells me she doesn't want to do that stuff. I asked why you are good at the cartwheels go show them you can do it. She turns to me and says, "Mom I already know how and I am better than all of them so I don't want to do it!" I was thinking wow that's really confident of you but I had no idea that was what she was going to say! :) So as soon as they were done with the tumbling part she got back up and went to finish doing the clinic. I didn't know what to think of it maybe she just needed a break. Anyhow so the clinic was on Thursday then the next Monday they got to perform their routine at half time at the UVU game. They were so excited. They did AWESOME!! I am so proud to watch my girls do things that they have learned and are proud of themselves with! I loved Brooklyn's huge smile she had on the entire time performing. I loved how Ashlyn gets into her dance with so much personality!

Monday, February 11, 2013

So I am a little behind on my blog updates but in January after things settled down and after the holidays it was time to potty train Parker! I was a little scared because I have heard boys are harder than girls are at potty training. And both my girls were super easy! So I started on a Wednesday, when he woke up I had thrown out all his diapers. He noticed right away too which was funny I told him all gone you get to go on the big boy potty now! He was a little unsure but he went with it thank goodness! :) He did great the first 2 days he had lots of accidents figuring it out which I had expected would happen. We still did our normal day to day things just went and tried to go potty every 15 min. By Saturday evening he had figured it out!! He now was down to just a little accident on Saturday and Sunday. I was amazed he did awesome! It did take a couple more days for him to figure out #2 on the potty but after that we were golden! I was expecting about 2 weeks until he was all trained but it only took him one I was so proud of him! Now we are a diaper free house!! YEAH! :)

Happy New Year! I can't believe it's 2013 that is just crazy! I remember when I was a kid and thought about this year we would be flying our cars! :) lol I don't know what I was thinking! But I am excited I have always loved New Years! I think it's because I love setting goals...I am weird like that! So I have my goals and I am ready and excited to do them this year also for the past like 2 years we have set family goals. So our kiddos can get in the habit of setting goals and feeling good about themselves accomplishing them! We so far are off to a pretty good start! Hopefully we will keep it going! This year for New Years we just celebrated it as a family. Not too exciting the kids couldn't wait until 12 to blow the horns and play with the new years things I got them so we celebrated the new year at about 10 which was fine by me! :) Here's to a new year of watching my kids grow and learn and just love everything life has to offer in 2013!!

Oh how I love Christmas!! The kids were so excited when we got back last night (well early this morning) that we all snuggled in bed and slept really late on Christmas Eve which was fine by me! We had a fun day with painting a little nativity set we got them and just hanging out as a family getting ready for Santa to come! We made and decorated cookies for Santa! The evening came and the kiddos were just so excited they couldn't wait! We started our Christmas Eve off with the Christmas story the kids love hearing about baby Jesus. Then we opened up our traditional Christmas Eve Pajamas put our Santa Key on the front door for him to come in and set the milk and cookies out! It took a while for the kiddos to settle down while we watched their favorite Christmas movie of this year Prep and Landing but they actually fell asleep earlier than normal which was super nice! :) Christmas morning came and Brooklyn was the first one up super excited and went and peeked down the stairs before we were awake and all the sudden we hear, "Ash Ash...Pawker got a Ninja Turtle!! I saw it already! Santa didn't even wrap it!" So we all woke up with that which is just the perfect way to wake up on Christmas morning!! :) Brandon got the cameras ready and went down before us all to watch their reaction to seeing what Santa left. I love how magical Christmas is! The looks on my kids faces are just priceless! So opened presents and enjoyed our morning together! Ashlyn got her Makenna doll she was hoping to get, Brooklyn got her baby doll and big girl scooter she was wanting, and Parker got his Woody and cars that he was just ecstatic about! We had our traditional Christmas breakfast scones, eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit! The whole day we just loved being together playing as a family! We took the kids to Monsters Inc. since it was playing in the theater (One of Parkers favorite movies) and ate dinner while watching it. The kids thought that was just awesome! We are so thankful for the blessing of family and for the Christmas spirit we feel while celebrating the birth of our Savior! Merry Christmas!!

Casey found a motorized bike...we thought he would never get off he was so happy!

Yummy ice cream waiting for our tour guide.

El Yokkahu National Forest

Observation tower we climbed to the top and it was an amazing view!!

View from the tower...beautiful!!

We hiked to a double water fall! Awesome!

Our group we had some much fun with!

Last Stop - Grand Turk

Picture perfect and we got to go spend the day there!

Me and our boat in the background! Look at the clear beautiful water!

We ate lunch on the beach! Perfect way to end the cruise!

We actually made it I can't believe it! We flew on a red eye flight, which was my first red eye, and holy cow it's so hard to sleep on a plane! I used to be able to sleep anywhere back when I was young but apparently not anymore...at least we made it! And the kids are in good hands! Since my sweet mom is having back surgery this week...ya bad timing to me out of the country when your mom has a big time back surgery...Aubrey and Kyle so kindly said they would watch the kiddos for us until Brandon's mom came on Wednesday. A little nervous leaving my kids for that long I hardly ever leave them! Aubrey and Kyle and LouAnne are great so no worries there. I had lots of anxiety going on this cruise; 1) I am not a water person, 2) Being stranded on this huge boat in the middle of the ocean with sharks...scary! 3) What if something happens there are no hospitals close by (yes I am weird like that & have to know where hospitals are when I go places) 4) Leaving my kids for like 8 days is crazy long! 5) What if I get sea sick?! Those are just to name a few yes I am a worry wort! When we boarded the boat I had no idea those things were so big!! Little claustrophobic in the tiny room but I can get over that not too bad! We set sail when were on the top deck and it was a really weird feeling. But totally cool at the same time. The Coast Guard helicopter flew by us a few times which was really neat. Then we were off to our first stop the Bahamas the next day. So we all hung out for a little bit then it was time to get ready for the first meal in the dinning room. As we were sitting at our table I could really feel the boat moving and rocking big time! Which then I started to get sick! :( I have never been motion sick or sick when I am pregnant so this was all new to me and it was not fun! So sad to say the first meal I did not partake because I couldn't even look at it or it would make me more nausea. So we just went back to our room I took some meds and slept til morning. Luckily when I woke up we had already ported for our first stop. We took an excursion to the Atlantis resort which is amazing! Had a delicious lunch there then soaked in some rays before it was time to get back on the ship. I now know keep meds in me at all times and I can do a cruise, so I did! That night we ate with everyone and then went to a comedy club which the dudes were pretty funny! The next day was all at sea so lots of sun tanning (my favorite thing ever) and hanging out with friends and people from Brandon's work. We learned some fun new card games and had a really fun time getting to know lots of people! Brandon works with some pretty amazing people and their wives and I get along so great!! Wednesday came and we were so ready to get off the boat luckily we ported early again. This time we stopped in St. Thomas. It was beautiful we went to Saphire Beach and hung out for the day soaked in some sun and a bunch of us played beach volley ball. While a lunch there were two huge iguanas hanging around so of course boys will be boys and they started giving them food and goofing around with them well Paul thought it would be cool if it actually ate food out of his hand so he held it by two fingers and well the iguana wanted the food a little too bad and bit Paul's finger. It got him pretty good too! Ouch! Then that night we watched a concert thing in the theater on the ship I think it was called something like Divas. It was entertaining. On Thursday, our stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico! We were stoked to go because Tyson just served his mission there! So before we left Tyson gave us things we had to see and try! So that's exactly what we did and it was a blast! We went and saw Old San Juan Fortress which was just awesome! Ate some authentic Puerto Rican food well everyone else did I stuck to my grilled cheese! :) Then we had enough time to take a tour to El Yokahu National Forest. So amazingly beautiful! We went up this look out tower and then saw a double water fall that got to hike up to. We got back to the boat had a fabulous dinner as usual, on the cruise ship at dinner you can order how ever much you want so we totally took advantage of that ! :) Also it was pretty sweet when we realized this waiter that came to know me through out the cruise was giving us free diet cokes!! Yep that's right! He would spot me in any of the dining areas and bring one right away! It was awesome! He also would bring Brandon his miami vice drink for free too! It was rad we got the hook up...we figured out by the end of the cruise he saved us like $60 in diet cokes and miami vices!! Anyhow we will just say he got a pretty good tip the last night! What a nice guy seriously! Then Friday, our last stop, was Grand Turk! I think it's one of the prettiest beaches I have ever seen! The water was a beautiful aqua blue color. So we did a snorkeling excursion. There were tons and tons of awesome fish and the guide took us to a drop off. He said it is similar to the grand canyon just under water! Pretty amazing! Then soaked in the sun while Brandon played some volley ball then back to the ship. We then set sail to head back to Florida to get back home to our kiddos for Christmas! So ported early in the morning but our flights didn't leave until 7 in the evening! So we had all day to kill. We first went and checked in for our flights then us and Casey and Tyese rented a car. We went to downtown Miami which was really neat but I felt so out of place everyone was like ritzy with dark hair...a whole other world there that's for sure! Then we still had tons of time so we went to a movie then luckily it was time for us to get to the airport. Off we went nothing to worry about now all we had to do was catch our connecting flight and we were homeward bound!! We got off the flight and knew we only had a few min until we boarded so we were a little nervous but we knew it would be ok. So we headed to our gate, Casey gets a phone call saying they have over booked our flight!!! I was furious! This was my biggest worry of going on the cruise so close to Christmas. So now Tyese and I start to freak out a little bit thinking there is no way you are going to let these two moms miss this flight we have our kids to get back to!! We start running through the airport thinking that we may not make it home until Christmas Eve afternoon, I was panicking!! Trying to keep it together behind us Brandon and Casey were discussing what they should do if we all don't have seats so they had a plan to let Tyese and I go and they would come the next day (Christmas Eve). They weren't saying anything until they knew what the deal was. We made it to the gate when they were boarding and THANKFULLY we all had seats!!! Oh it was a Christmas miracle! Now I was able to breathe and think again. We made it home to our sweet kids that got to have a fun late night with our best friends the Thuesons. We got them home....I loved seeing my kids open their eyes and be so excited to see us! We all slept in the same bad and snuggled all night it was so much fun to come home to them! All in all the cruise was super fun! Great food, awesome locations, and wonderful new friends with great memories to keep! :)

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About Me

We were married January 24, 2004 in the Boise, ID temple. It was such beautiful snowy day. It was a perfect day to start such a wonderful marriage. Brandon is my rock I love him so much I am so thankful to have him a part of my life and my best friend. We have two wonderful girls and an energetic happy little boy! I love them all so much! I LOVE being a mom! :)